Improvements to Three Capsule Pantry Recipes

And a very quick recipe for Portuguese potatoes with green sauce

Something I love about developing and writing recipes on Substack is that, unlike a physical cookbook, I can adapt recipes as I continue to make and develop them.

Every time I make a recipe, I normally find a better way to make it. To simplify the process. To adapt in a way I’d not thought of before.

Alas, this week’s recipe hasn’t turned out the way I wanted in development, and I’m not in the market for giving you substandard recipes. Instead, I thought this a good time to revisit some of the recipes in my archive that I’ve spent time refining and re-writing over the last few months.

For new subscribers (and there were a lot this week!) this is your chance to see what The Capsule Pantry is all about. For my regulars (and to everyone), this is my promise to always do better — and to bring you along for the ride.

I’ve also included a quick recipe for grilled Portuguese potatoes with molho verde, a garlicky, herby green sauce.

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Roman Pizza, Bonci style

Ever since my 3-week stint in Rome last year, Roman pizza has been on my weekly rotation. Often, I won’t have time to do a 24-hour cold ferment as I suggested in the original recipe. But I’ve found that, especially as the weather is a little warmer, reducing the proving time to 4-8 hours works great and means you don’t have to wait 24 hours for pizza.

This is still a rather involved recipe and not one to knock up on a Tuesday night. But reducing the proving time means you can spend around an hour in the morning preparing the dough and leave it to work its magic over the day ready for supper.

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Dan Dan Noodles with Szechuan Chilli Oil

This dish has a few components, some of which I feel were far more complex than they needed to be. I’ve reduced the amount of steps needed in order to make this delicious bowl of spicy goodness easier and more accessible:

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Turkish Ezme Salad

I’ve been on the hunt for a great Ezme salad for some months now and have made tens of variations.

Whilst the original one I published back in May was a good one, I’ve found one that’s even better. What’s more, I think Ezme deserves its own page, so you’ll now find it under the Cooking School tab above.

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Portuguese BBQ potatoes with molho verde (green sauce)

Last week, my husband and I rented a small apartment in the middle of the Portuguese countryside. It was part of an old farmhouse that, luckily for us, had no other guests staying that night.

Which meant free reign of the pool and more importantly, the outside kitchen and BBQ.

There was only one thing I wanted to make on that BBQ and that was potatoes with molho verde.

In the small seafront restaurants close to where I live in Porto, the grills are filled with these potatoes — boiled first, then grilled over hot coals and served with green sauce made with parsley, olive oil and garlic.

If your grill is still seeing some late Summer action, these are what you want on them.

Boil a handful of small salad-style potatoes whole, skin on. Wait until they’re soft enough to stick a knife through but not so soft they’re falling apart.

Drain them and leave to steam dry for a couple of minutes then smother them with olive oil and flaky sea salt.

When your BBQ coals are white, stick the potatoes onto your grilling rack, turning every few minutes until they’ve turn golden under the heat.

To make the molho verde, finely chop a garlic clove and a large handful of parsley and / or cilantro. Pour in good quality extra virgin olive oil — as much as you can stand before it enters the “unhealthy” realm. Squeeze in a small amount of fresh lemon juice if you have it. Season with sea salt and pour over the potatoes just as they come off the grill.

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🥑 AND THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE. If you want more flexible recipes, check out the Capsule Pantry recipe index

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